Activities between 1919 - 1995

Starting from its inception in 1919, upto the mid 1990s, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) largely made grants in Bombay. Whilst the Trust was largely known for making individual grants for education and medical relief, it also made institutional grants. Education, health and support for allied trusts were the mainstay of institutional grant making, with a few grants also being made for the promotion of arts and heritage, women’s development, rural development, etc. Compared to the grants made currently, these were at best modest in comparison.

One of the early ventures of the Trust was the Sir Ratan Tata Industrial Institute, which gave work to needy women at a time when there was a dearth of openings for women in offices. In 1948, the Trust contributed to the setting up of the National Metallurgical Laboratory at Jamshedpur, and in the 1970’s to the establishment of the Tata Memorial Centre at Navsari, the birthplace of Jamsetji Tata. Notable grants and donations till the Eighties were for:

• The establishment of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), in which the Trust assisted the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT).



• The Tata Blood Bank and the Tata Department of Plastic Surgery at the J. J. Group of Hospitals, both of which were again jointly funded by SRTT and SDTT.



• The establishment of the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Bombay.



• The Demographic Centre at the Institute of Population Studies, Bombay, for which land was provided by the Trust.

Apart from concentrating on funding the establishment of prestigious and pioneering institutions, the Trust responded to requests from individuals and institutions on an ad-hoc basis. Grants were given to individuals in need of medical assistance and relief, apart from funds for education. Grants to institutions covered the themes of education, urban development, rehabilitation and promotion of arts. However, education was given the most importance. The Trust disbursed Rs. 166.08 million in the 76 year period upto March 1995.

With the advent of liberalization of the economy in India in the early nineties, the Trust’s income increased substantially, spurring the Trustees to ensure that the funds were utilized in an efficient, organized and far-sighted manner. To kick things off, the Trust commissioned Mr. Vijay Mahajan to undertake a review of its functioning, whilst suggesting ways forward in professionalizing and upscaling the grant making activities of the Trust in a contemporary environment and adhering to the vision of Sir Ratan Tata. This comprehensive exercise undertaken in 1995, resulted in the formation of the Strategic Plan 2000, which was to give a direction to the Trust’s activities over the next five years, marking its transition from a reactive charity to a truly modern philanthropic entity, which supported development issues in a truly systematic manner. One of the key changes effected post the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2000 was the formation of five thematic areas within which the Trust would now concentrate its funding support, as against the erstwhile manner of functioning, which responded to requests on a wide range of unrelated issues. The themes were:

• Education
• Rural Livelihoods & Communities
• Health
• Arts & Culture
• Public Initiatives

Until then, a majority of the Trust’s grants were made to institutions within Bombay, with a small percentage to organisations in Maharashtra and Gujarat. With the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2000, this geographical coverage was widened to assume pan-Indian proportions. Another major change was the number of multi-year, repeat grants that were made, a change from the earlier policy of making one-off, one-time grants.

A review of the five year period (1995-2000) was undertaken in May 2001, with a view to recommend strategies for the period 2001-06. Mr. Deep Joshi undertook the exercise. In his report submitted in October 2001, he observed that the Trust had successfully managed a major transition from a traditional, reactive charity to a proactive development donor of considerable importance. A manifold increase in the number and size of grants, and pan-Indian coverage in defined thematic areas were an outcome of this transition. In addition to building a grantee portfolio of well-known development Non-Profit Organizations (NPO), the Trust had extended its outreach to small and fledgling initiatives in remote places. The Trust had also developed adequate systems for project appraisal and monitoring.

Operationalised from 2002-03, the Strategic Plan (SP 2006) broadly recommended the following:

• The Trust plays a catalytic and instrumental role in development by allocating priorities to its thematic areas.
• Increase its engagement with the “field”.
• “Enhancing Civil Society and Governance” was a new thematic area recommended for the Trust’s future programming.
• Consolidate its work in a limited geographical area, especially “the poverty belt” of the country.
• Make fewer, larger multi-year grants to select institutions, and nurture them over a period of time.
• Integrate endowments with thematic grant making.
• Explore avenues for collaboration with other development agencies.
• Retain focus on providing institutional support, extension or development support and on supporting experimentation & innovative projects.
• Adopt a systematic planning process
• Enhance internal human resources

These consist of the following:

• Programme Grants
• Endowment Grants
• Small Grant Programme

During 1995-96, the Trust made a total of 37 new grants. With most of them being spaced out over a period ranging upto five years, the number of active grants has risen over the years and during 2006-07, there were 132 active grants. The amount of funds disbursed towards institutional grants has also increased over the years since 1995-96, when Rs. 22.94 million was disbursed, to Rs. 487.14 million that was disbursed during 2006-07.

During 1998-99, the Sir Ratan Tata Small Grant Programme (SGP) was conceptualized to cater to the needs of small welfare oriented organisations in the country, which due to their inherent nature face a lot of uncertainties in funding their innovative ideas for tackling local problems. With a modest beginning of three grants and disbursals of Rs. 0.57 million, the Small Grant Programme has evolved over the years with modifications being made to the initial design of the programme, to include large organisations that need funding for strategic planning, focused research activities, or strengthening internal systems. During 2006-07, the Trust disbursed Rs. 26.56 million to 84 organisations, spread over the country, in all five thematic areas, through the Small Grant Programme.

Along with the exponential increase in institutional grant disbursals, the disbursals to individuals for: (a) medical relief; and (b) education have also increased during the same period. During 1995-96, Rs. 8.67 million was disbursed under this category, which has increased to Rs. 114.45 million during 2006-07. The table below gives a break-up of individual grant disbursals over the financial years 2001-02 to 2006-07.

The trend of disbursals indicates a major percentage being proportioned towards medical grants.

A closer look at the institutional grant disbursals theme-wise, over the financial years 2001-02 to 2006-07 indicates that 58% is towards Rural Livelihoods and Communities, followed by Education with 22%. Presently, these two themes form the mainstay of the Trust’s grant making operations.

This thematic area forms the major share of the Trust’s disbursals. Over the past six financial years, the disbursement in the portfolio has risen from Rs. 75.93 million during 2001-02 to Rs. 224.02 million during 2006-07. The key initiatives in this thematic area are as follows:

1. Water Sector Policy Research (WSR) A second phase of a five year initiative with the IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program that engages Indian and global scientific and resource management institutions in practical agenda of water sector research and policy level dialogue.
2. Central India Initiative (CInI) CInI involves a series of livelihood projects across the central India region, addressing core issues aimed at alleviating poverty amongst tribals in a sustainable manner.
3. Himmothan Pariyojana (HMP) Earlier called ‘Resolving the Himalayan Dilemma’; Himmothan Pariyojana addresses some of the key rural development issues confronting the inhabitants of the Himalayas, on a systematic basis.
4. Kharash Vistarotthan Yojana (KVY) Earlier called ‘Gujarat Coastal Salinity Prevention & Mitigation Initiative’; KVY tackles issues related to sea water ingress on the Gujarat coastline through field projects and coordination with the state government.
5. Drought Proofing in West Rajasthan (RDP&R) The objective is to develop replicable models for drought proofing in the desert regions of Rajasthan.
6. Reviving the Green Revolution (RGR) The initiative involves a series of interventions encouraging crop diversification in Punjab to tackle the negative impact of the rice-wheat cropping system.
7. Sakh Se Vikas (SSV) Earlier called the Rajasthan Microfinance Initiative, Sakh Se Vikas consolidates and expands the micro-finance portfolio in Rajasthan by strengthening the livelihood component.
8. South India Micro-Finance (SIMF) Expands and strengthens Kalanjiam Foundation’s micro finance portfolio and operations across four south Indian states.

Grants under the education theme are divided into the following three basic categories:

Under this sub-theme, the Trust supports work that has systemic implication, whilst focusing on critical gap areas in the education sector. Consequently, the Trust supports: (i) organizations working towards reforming the education system at block/district level by engaging with education administration and the parent community; (ii) subject based interventions in government schools to improve curriculum and teaching methods; (iii) innovation among state institutions; (iv) professional development of teachers; (v) development and dissemination of educational material; and (vi) learning centre initiatives.

Despite the widespread recognition of the importance of education in social development, Education, as a discipline, has remained severely underdeveloped. Hence, there is dearth of shared and informed body of knowledge that guides sound policy decisions or practices in the field. The Trust therefore supports: (i) educational research with focus on comparative studies; and (ii) linking higher education with elementary education through collaborative networks, fellowships and research.

Institution building has been an important area of focus for the Trust. Here, the Trust focuses on supporting: (i) alternative and heritage schools through providing support for their institutional growth and strengthening; and (ii) strategic support to innovative institutions for higher learning, especially in the field of education. Support is also provided for linking departments/institutions from smaller towns to institutes known for their academic excellence.

Over the past six financial years, the disbursement in the portfolio have risen from Rs. 32.78 million during 2001-02 to Rs. 67.69 million during 2006-07. A pan-Indian coverage has been maintained whilst making grants within this thematic area.

Grants under the health theme are divided into the following three sub-thematic areas.

1. Community Based Initiatives: These include initiatives that evolve innovative delivery systems focusing on rural areas. Close linkage with community outreach programs emphasizing preventive care have been supported.
2. Specialist Care for the Disadvantaged: While the Trust has encouraged support to diverse efforts from care to the terminally ill to geriatric homes, it has emphasized the role of the family, quality of care, deinstitutionalization and cost effectiveness in the programs. One of the sub themes in this area is the trusts focus on mental health.
3. Building Organizational Capacities: The support of the Trust in this area, aims to leverage the rich experience of practitioners to build perspectives and skills for careers in public and community health. It has also encouraged support to specialist and renowned institutions to offer skill development programs, especially those working in the non profit context.

Over the past six financial years, the disbursement in the portfolio has risen from Rs. 16.17 million during 2001-02 to Rs. 25.28 million during 2006-07. A pan-Indian coverage has been maintained whilst making grants within this thematic area.

Grants under this theme are divided into the following four sub-thematic areas:

1. Encouraging youth action for development through ‘Youth and Civil Society initiative’
2. Professionalizing the non-profit sector through fellowships.
3. Building vibrant non-profits through Human Resource and Organization Development initiative.
4. Strengthening Governance particularly through citizen engagement with public systems.

Over the past six financial years, the disbursement in the portfolio have risen from Rs. 2.60 million during 2001-02 to Rs. 35.49 million during 2006-07. A pan-Indian coverage has been maintained whilst making grants within this thematic area.

The Trust has restructured its Arts and Culture portfolio in 2005, following a review of its grant-making within this theme. Consequently, it has decided to keep institution building in the arts, as its overriding concern. This builds on the strength of the Trust in understanding and support to institutions. It is based on the recognition that the field of the arts is at an interesting crossroads with the development of new quasi-institutions; therefore, interfacing with older art practices and academic institutions is being explored by the Trust. Consequently, new grants are made in four areas. Promoting advance learning in Arts is the first area of focus. Secondly, the Trust perceives arts as a cross cutting theme for its portfolio. Accordingly, linkages are being explored between this portfolio and grant making in mental health, education and professionalizing the sector through focus on arts therapy, arts education and arts management respectively.

The graph depicted below gives the disbursals in Arts & Culture over the years 2001-02 and 2006-07. Here too, the grants have a pan-Indian coverage.

Footnote: *Sunder, Pushpa. (1998) Sir Ratan Tata Trust; Indian Centre for Philanthropy Publication
*Rs. 10 million equals Rs. 1 crore.
*Mr. Mahajan is the Founder of BASIX India and currently Managing Director, Indian Grameen Services, Hyderabad.
*Mr. Joshi is currently Executive Director, PRADAN, New Delhi.